Barclays is using its “Offshore Corporate” department to market a range of tax havens to big businesses in Africa including promoting the low tax levels that are available, a new ActionAid report has claimed.
ActionAid Tax Justice Adviser Toby Quantrill said every year developing countries lose billions of pounds of vitally needed revenue because of tax avoidance by big companies using tax havens.
“When companies avoid tax, they drain billions of pounds of revenues out of developing countries that could be used to help build schools and hospitals and lift people out of poverty.
“Now Barclays customers have sent a stark message to their bank. A clear majority are saying it is unacceptable for their bank to be providing the kind of services that can help businesses reduce their tax payments.”
Earlier this year Barclays Chief Executive Antony Jenkins promised that Barclays was “changing” following a range of scandals that have damaged the bank’s image, including allegations of corporate tax avoidance using tax havens.
But ActionAid’s report called “Time to Clean Up: How Barclays promotes the use of tax havens in Africa shows that in September Barclays Offshore Corporate increased the number of tax havens it was promoting, to include the key African tax haven of Mauritius.
Mauritius has a very low effective tax rate and its network of tax treaties with other African countries means that large companies can use it as a key location to avoid tax.
ActionAid is now demanding that Barclays honours its commitment to change and specifically to close down its Offshore Corporate department, which it uses to promote tax havens to big businesses in Africa.
Tax avoidance and the kind of practices that are frequently used in tax havens have been strongly condemned by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who stated that it was “unconscionable” that companies were aggressively avoiding tax “while millions of Africans go without adequate nutrition, health and education.”
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, tax havens cost developing countries just under three times more than they receive in aid every year.
“Tax revenue is vital to helping boost investment in basic services in some of the poorest parts of the world. But for as long as major companies like Barclays promote tax havens, then there will always be businesses who avoid tax. We are asking Barclays to do better than that. We want them to show that when they say they are “changing” – they actually mean it,” said Mr Quantrill.
A recent report from the high level Africa Progress Panel estimates that lost taxation is costing sub-Saharan Africa US$63 billion every year.
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63 bigs
All banks are theives including their workers.
First it was Deloitte.
Deloitte’s Advice to Investor Thieves in Africa: “…. to reduce withholding tax liabilities by routing investment through a Mauritian company, while also reducing capital gains tax to zero.”
Now Barclays.
Closing my account with the greedy chaps.
Iam also closing my account with Barclays. this is serious.
Try also to stop purchassing goods/services from “tax avoiders”registered in Mauritius which is their villing partner in depriving people of Zambia of rightfull tax revenue.
Hon. Chikwanda, any comment?
Zambia will do well to review its tax agreement with the crook’s haven Mauritius.
ignore any SADC/Comesa nonsense agreements that may be leaving loopholes.
Blood suckers are on to us again…
Can Zambia Sugar tell us more about the export services paid for in Mauritius?
The services alluded to may not even have been offered as claimed. Here is an excerpt from the previous article about Zambia Sugar
“But John Bason, ABF’s chief financial officer, said of the money paid to Ireland, €4m was for expatriate salaries in Zambia and the £2m to Mauritius was for export services which Zambia lacked the capability to manage. ABF’s share of the dividend, €4m, is paid through a Dutch holding company”.
Did the expatiates pay their PAYE here in Zambia on the Euros 4 million if at all they do exist? Can ZRA verify this?
Banks are evil. And Africans always sleeping at the wheel.
Mauritius again.
http://www.actionaid.org.uk/campaign/the-sabmiller-guide-to-tax-dodging
Seems there are several companies ZRA needs to examine closer.
I just wonder how great educated zambian professors allow their nations to be plundered somuch, in zambia we have powerful economists who do nothing but allow foreign thieves loot our wealth, or are they not aware of this scum but again what really is their work
Shouldn’t there be a law or SI to bar companies from repatriating salaries for their expatriate employees from company accounts, as they can surely do this from their personal Zambian bank accounts?And as the case is, finance charges for such transactions are being charged against companies’ chargeable profit thus reducing Income tax payable.This will also help in cabbing incidences of ghost expatriate employees.
Bank charges bakaamba. In Africa the situation is just bad for all banks
I have always hated this bank becos of its history. This is a bank which was used to save money from slavery. They have not changed, they are still the same old crooks. Pli bank with your own, FBZ kwasila.
A bank of criminals. Unfortunately being an old timer in the business most new players in the field are emulating these criminal vices. God help us.
Check the nexus between Africa Life and Barclays Bank in defrauding the borrowing public through so-called credit life insurance whereby during the period 2001 to 20010 over 80,000,000,000 kwacha was externalised from Zambia. Africa Life is a conduit for money laundering. They have sweet-talked other banks into their money laundering scheme. Indo Zambia Bank is one such bank that is a party to overcharging credit life. Even our so-called educated MPs are prey to this scheme. They unwittingly borrow and overpay to Indo Zambia the money that ends up in Africa Life head office in South Africa.
Barclays has started a life insurance company in Zambia only to hide their skimming scheme.
BOZ is aware of this but does nothing. We have our local insurance companies Madison Life, Professional…
Offshore banking is the bread and butter business for these international banks, The City of London is not only famous as a tourist destination, there is too much hypocrisy as its the Western countries that benefit from all this business.
If Barclays shut down its offshore corporate department Citibank, Deutsche and HSBC will gladly take up the business. Its likened to arresting a drug kingpin no sooner he is behind bars his competitors and lieutenants will step up and fill the void.
Its important to also remember that companies like Zambia Sugar are bound to exploit weaknesses in the rules; not to do so would be to put themselves at a competitive disadvantage. Africans need to wake up and take the fight to the rule-setters and enforcers they equally deserve their share of the blame.
Africa has been exploited through and through but where are our dear educated economists or do they just wink at this and allow their own people to be drawn into abject poverty by these greedy crooks they already know we all know that it is taxes that improve economies every where in the world how does africa development if the vehicle to grow is stolen from them
You see firms and investors evaluate the countries current economic situations and future in order to asses some arbitrage opportunity in asset classes and securities that they will benefit from big time.
Its important that the policy and research departments of Ministry Finance -GRZ become on top of the trends and maximize transactions taxes to the benefit of Zambians and create a financial city in Lsk
Currently there is a shift in focus to Dubai in most of the monies made in least aggressive policing economies for reinvestments by developed nationals and citizenly. You need to see and the trends and actively not passively recheck and ensure you at least break even or remain well in money…
Jonathan, say what you are trying to say.
Is the 2nd biggest brewer in the world and number 1 in Africa
Owns over 200 brands, including Grolsch, Peroni, Castle and Miller
Makes profits of £2 billion a year
Has its HQ just off Park Lane in London
Make them drunk to take away their minds and hearts, then it will be easy to do some clever accounting! What a clever strategy they use meanwhile we are busy and so inflamed with stone age politics!
To the point lets learn to think through and ahead and position ourselves to remain better off.
If am a serious investor trying to invest between Ndola and Itezhi tezhi,i will look at taxes treaties and policies that are favorable in that particular asset class be it commodities , currencies, bonds, equities and alternatives in a very careful and arbitrage way not throwing any money but in most cases cleverly taking advantage of policies that are not stringent maximizing my returns and moving money to where returns from my reinvestments can even triple while I build myself industries and estates for you to admire and say I am developed.
Lets learn to think thorough and remain well…
Investment in tax havens and tax evasion are two different things. Some countries create tax havens to prop up ailing districts
Zambia should have created tax havens in Mufulira, luanshya and Kabwe
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